The Northern Bank Job

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The Northern Bank Job: Episode Three: Progressing Matters

Episode Three: Progressing Matters

BBC Radio 4 - The Northern Bank Job, Episode Three: Progressing Matters

Belfast writer Glenn Patterson has unfinished business with the 2004 Northern Bank robbery

It was the biggest bank heist in British and Irish criminal history. Belfast writer Glenn Patterson has unfinished business with the 2004 Northern Bank robbery.

It was the biggest bank robbery in British and Irish history. Days before Christmas 2004, gangs of armed men take over the homes of two Northern Bank officials in Belfast and County Down. With family members held hostage, the officials are instructed to remove cash from the vaults of Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast city-centre and load it into the back of a van - not once, but twice - before the van disappears into the night, along with more than £26.5 million in new and used notes. With the finger of blame pointed at the IRA, the raid makes headlines around the world and sends shock-waves through an already faltering Northern Ireland peace process.

Through dramatized court testimonies, new interviews and archive, Glenn Patterson takes us into the unfolding story of a meticulously planned heist and its chaotic aftermath. Military precision giving way to soap powder boxes stuffed with cash. The bickering of politicians against the silence of the man said to be the robbery’s mastermind. There are even rumours that proceeds from the robbery are to be used as a pension fund for IRA members as it prepares to disarm and disband.

Glenn Patterson has unfinished business with the Northern Bank Job. In fact, he thinks all of Northern Ireland does.

Episode Three: Progressing Matters
As Kevin and Chris make their way down to the basement cash-centre safe, the masked men holding Kyran McMullan hostage ask if she'd like some light refreshments...


Written and presented by Glenn Patterson

Music: Phil Kieran
Actors: Louise Parker, Thomas Finnegan & Conor O'Donnell
Executive Editor: Andy Martin
Producer: Conor Garrett

A BBC Northern Ireland production for Radio 4

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